Stanford University recently announced it would purge its $18.7 billion endowment of stock in coal-mining companies.

This decision makes Stanford the first major university to lend support to a nationwide movement to purge endowments of fossil fuel investments. The university said its trustees acted in accordance with internal guidelines allowing them to consider when choosing investments whether “corporate policies or practices create substantial social injury.” Coal’s link to climate change persuaded them to remove about 100 companies “whose principal business is coal” from their investment portfolio. Overall, Stanford’s coal holdings are a small fraction of its endowment.